Knicks breeze past Raptors in latest glimpse of home dominance
The Knicks are building something at home.A real advantage.A fortress.With Sunday night’s 116-94 victory over the Raptors, the Knicks (13-6) improved to 10-1 at MSG — the second-best home record in the NBA, behind only the juggernaut Thunder.It’s looking like a big improvement over last season, when the Knicks were just 27-14 at the Garden.This season, they’re just destroying the visitors.And Sunday was the latest breeze.The Knicks led for the final 46 ½ minutes, with a balanced scoring attack led by Karl-Anthony Towns’ 22 points.
Six of their players scored at least 13 points.Josh Hart continued his hot stretch by stuffing the boxscore, finishing with 20 points, 12 rebounds and 7 assists.
He also led the team with 5 offensive boards.Jalen Brunson shot just 6-for-19, but he also drew the defense’s attention and the Knicks didn’t need a top performance from the star.Despite the lopsided score, there were a couple of dicey moments in the third quarter.Immanuel Quickley, the former Knick, took off in that period with 13 of his 19 points, including a trey that ended with a celebration MSG fans might remember — the gallop down the sideline.
Toronto then cut the deficit to 3.But the Knicks responded with a 12-0 run to take control.Hart, the spiritual leader of the roster, led the charge with 13 points in the third quarter.The Raptors never recovered.It was, in some ways, a schedule win for the Knicks.
The Raptors (14-7) are much better than most anticipated, riding Brandon Ingram’s resurgence to first place in the division before Sunday.But they were also on the second night of a back-to-back after traveling from Charlotte on Saturday night.Perhaps not coincidentally, the visitors came out sluggish.The Knicks came out firing — especially Miles McBride, who had 12 points in the opening five minutes.They built a 24-point lead early in the second quarter, giving the appearance of a blowout for the home team.But the offense went cold with the reserves...